Acquisition.com CEO says leaders ‘have it backwards’ when it comes to hiring: She says she hires for emotional intelligence over technical skills

Now more than ever, it’s difficult to know what makes candidates in a competitive labor market. While layoffs and unemployment remain low at the start of this year, jobseekers face an uphill battle as AI eliminates entry-level roles and employers added just 50,000 jobs in December. One founder says more than technical skills, being a good person is the quality that makes job candidates more appealing to hire.  

Leila Hormozi, founder and CEO of Acquistion.com, said she learned her guiding principle for hiring from the Ritz-Carlton. Their philosophy is: “We don’t hire people who know how to make beds. We hire people that are good people,” she said in a video on Instagram to her 1.2 million followers.

“Our process was to hire the right people. Not just hire people but select people and then orient them, not just put them to work but orient them to our thinking,” said Ritz Carlton Hotel Company cofounder Horst Schulze, reflecting on how the global chain developed their high standard, in a 2019 interview with Chief Executive.

Hormozi says she echoes this philosophy: “I want to hire people who have the natural traits that I just need to give them the technical skills.” Hormozi cofounded Acquisition.com with her husband, Alex, in 2021. Before starting the private investment and advisory firm, Hormozi worked as personal trainer and launched fitness companies Gym Launch and Prestige Labs, and a software company ALAN. By 28, her net worth passed $100 million, she says. Acquisition.com now has a $200M+ portfolio and partners with companies to scale and grow business.  

“Your business is only as strong as the people you pick to lead it. The fastest way to destroy your business is to hire the wrong people.” Hormozi wrote in a caption on Instagram.

Some leaders “have it backwards,” she added. “People overvalue technical skills and undervalue social and emotional skills.” 

As AI masters technical skills used in administrative, human resources, finance, and logistics jobs, soft skills such as adaptability and creative and analytical thinking are growing in demand, according to research from LinkedIn. People with strong foundational skills, such as collaboration, adaptability, and basic math skills typically learn faster and acquire more complex skills over time, one 2025 Harvard study about about long-term performance and advancement shows. 

Other business leaders share Hormozi’s philosophy.

“My advice to people would be critical thinking, learn skills, learn your EQ [emotional quotient], learn how to be good in a meeting, how to communicate, how to write,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said last month. “You’ll have plenty of jobs.”  

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has also long advocated for empathy and emotional intelligence as foundational skills in the workplace. 

“IQ has a place, but it’s not the only thing that is needed in the world,” Nadella said in an interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner in November. “And I’ve always felt at least as leaders, if you just have IQ without EQ, it’s just a waste of IQ.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com